THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced a new streaming and broadcast home on Disney+ and ABC, per a press release. The 2023 induction ceremony will be broadcast live on Disney+ from Brooklyn, on Friday, Nov. 3, and will be available to stream following the ceremony; ABC will air a special featuring performance highlights and standout moments on Monday, Jan. 1, 2024. Honorees will include Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners; DJ Kool Herc and Link Wray for Musical Influence; and Chaka Khan, Al Kooper and Bernie Taupin for Musical Excellence. Soul Train host Don Cornelius will posthumously receive the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

Emmy-winning actor, author, singer, philanthropist and community activist Sheryl Lee Ralph, along with her non-profit charitable organization, The DIVA Foundation, announced the return of DIVAS Simply Singing! Raising Health Awareness, a press release noted. The benefit concert will be filmed before a live audience at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 19. Ralph created The DIVA Foundation 34 years ago to mobilize resources, fight stigma, raise funds and deliver urgent messaging around the awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening conditions.

In an emotional video, RuPaul took to social media to announce his upcoming new memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, Out noted. The new book is set for a release on March 5, 2024, and can be pre-ordered via publisher HarperCollins. The House of Hidden Meanings will explore RuPaul's career "from drag icon to powerhouse producer of one of the world's largest television franchises," as well as his secretive personality.

Outfest's board of directors will recognize the 12-member Queer Filmworkers United as a union, Deadline noted, citing Outfest Acting Executive Director Zackery Alexander Stephens. (Stephens was promoted amid a 45-day leave of absence by the Executive Director Damien S. Navarro.) In addition to his supposedly temporary exit, there have been layoffs in a time of turmoil for the organization; however, Outfest has stated that union activity and the layoffs are unrelated, saying the latter resulted from financial considerations.

Out gay Broadway icon Billy Porter was in South Florida to help raise funds for Fort Lauderdale's Stonewall National Museum, Local10 reported. "It's about honoring our humanity, the demand for the honoring of our humanity, like we already do for everyone else," Porter said. Stonewall Executive Director Robert Kesten said Porter accepted his invitation to help raise money for the museum's LGBTQ history education programs, adding, "They are vitally important at a time when, not only in Florida, but across the country, government officials are cutting back on a universal education and education where everybody is equally and well represented."

Openly gay executive producer John Cameron Mitchell announced that xXPonyBoyDerekXx—described as "a boundary-breaking digital play fusing theater, film and mixed digital media into an epic multi-week online event"—is on X (formerly Twitter) and OnlyFans, Deadline noted. The project follows the character of an 18-year-old OnlyFans creator in real-time as he navigates "a fraught path of autonomy, capitalism, sexuality, and survival amid the demands of physical commodification in a virtual world."

Boy Culture: Generation X—the sequel to the trailblazing drama Boy Culture (2006)—will debut Nov. 7 On Demand, per a press release. The original film's stars Derek Magyar (X) and Darryl Stephens (Andrew) are returning in their roles, as is the entire original creative team—director and co-writer Q. Allan Brocka, producers Stephen Israel and Philip Pierce, and co-writer Matthew Rettenmund. The plot is described thusly: "More than a decade after the events of the first film, Boy Culture: Generation X finds X and Andrew—the on-again, off-again couple [who are] now both 40—broken up and tensely sharing a home out of financial necessity. When X attempts to plunge back into his previous job as a sex worker, he's in for a rude awakening — he's no longer the flavor of the month, and the entire industry has been transformed by changing attitudes, online platforms and PreP."

LGBTQ+ singer/actor Amandla Stenberg has released the single "Wicked Animal"—a track she wrote and performed for the feature film My Animal, a press release noted. My Animal, Castel's Sundance-premiering thriller, is now playing in select theaters and On Demand. As an actor, Stenberg is known for her roles in Everything, Everything, The Hunger Games and Bodies Bodies Bodies.

Queer singer Joy Oladokun released a new version of "Sweet Symphony," with Chris Stapleton, per a press release. The song is from Proof of Life (Deluxe)—a new extended version of Oladokun's album that will be released Oct. 13 on Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records. Alongside the album's 13 original tracks, the deluxe edition will feature "Black Car," "Wild Enough," "Purple Haze" and "Spotlight" as well as new versions of album tracks "Sweet Symphony," "Somehow" and "Keeping the Light On."

Trans artist, author, activist and musician Laura Jane Grace released "Dysphoria Hoodie"—the first song to be lifted from Grace's upcoming studio album, per a press release. This is Grace's first offering since the 2021 EP At War with the Silverfish. "This is a song about gender dysphoria and your favorite hooded sweatshirt," Grace said. "Any trans person out there knows what a dysphoria hoodie is—it's the hoodie you wear when feeling low and dysphoric and you don't want the world reading your gender. … My dysphoria hoodie happens to be an Adidas hoodie so, yes, this is in fact really just a tribute song to my favorite Adidas hoodie."

Champion wrestler Anthony Bowens discussed his journey accepting his sexuality and coming out—even in the face of fans who say they don't care, Out noted. Bowens penned an open letter to All Elite Wrestling fans in which he talked about how when he began his wrestling career, he was missing one important thing: personality—and the reason he was missing that was because he was closeted and wasn't "able to tap into everything that makes me me." When some people said that they "don't care" and that "nobody gives a damn about your orientation," Bowens responded that he didn't write the letter for those fans.

Colton Underwood—the first star of The Bachelor to come out as gay—has started As Best Friends Productions with husband Jordan C. Brown, Variety noted. The production company currently has three projects in active development: one feature documentary and two unscripted projects. Talking with Variety, Underwood said he believes that, by growing up in a Republican family in Indiana, he can push through to middle America and help educate people who have not been exposed to the severity of issues facing the LGBTQ+ community.

Jonathan Van Ness responded to right-wing personality Megyn Kelly for mocking them after a tense podcast exchange Van Ness had with Dax Shephard on his podcast, Armchair Expert, about trans kids, Out noted. Kelly pretended to cry and said, "I'm so tired too, I'm so tired. I'm tired of having to stand up for my daughter's right to play sports with other girls." On their response video (posted to Instagram), Van Ness said, "[Your Today] show got canceled, but you did make millions of dollars in that cancellation, so good on you. … Advocating for trans inclusion in sports and trans rights does not take away from women's rights. Women deserve the same access to money, advertising dollars, resources, training, facilities, scholarship opportunities and professional league opportunities that men do, and I'm advocating for that all the time."

Actor Brian Austin Green (TV's Beverly Hills, 90210 and Anger Management) talked with Lance Bass on the iHeartRadio podcast about raising his gay son, Kassius Lijah Marcil-Green, who's now 21, Yahoo! noted. Green said, in part, "I would get into these conservations with Kash where it was like I really wanted to understand the things that seemed so different to me at first. And then you realize, 'Oh, this isn't different at all.' It's just your choice of partner. It doesn't affect me at all." Green added that he does not allow bullying or unnecessary opinions on his son: "And that's the thing I'm always trying to beat into people now—it does not affect you. Why do you care so much?"

Issa Rae (Insecure) has been named creative director for the 2024 American Black Film Festival (ABFF), Variety noted. In the newly created role, Rae will work closely with the Fridays to program the lineup for the festival's 28th edition, which will take place June 12-16, 2024 in Miami Beach.

Controversial two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey was rushed to a hospital in Uzbekistan after experiencing numbness in one of his arms and fearing a heart attack, per Page Six, citing The Sun. Spacey underwent an MRI scan after the health scare, which occurred during the 15th Tashkent International Film Festival, but doctors said he was okay. "It made me really take a moment and think about how fragile life is—for all of us," Spacey told the audience. Earlier during the festival, the House of Cards star had announced his "comeback" after being cleared on sexual-assault charges and promised attendees his "best roles were ahead" of him.

OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festival Fort Lauderdale announced its 15th-anniversary film schedule that's taking place Oct. 19-29, per a press release. This year's opening-night film will be The Mattachine Family, starring Nico Tortorella, Juan Pablo Di Pace and Emily Hampshire. The suspenseful drama All Of Us Strangers, with Andrew Scott, will be the closing night film. See outshinefilm.com for more information.

Country-music star and LGBTQ+ ally Kacey Musgraves is the latest artist to receive a wax doppleganger at Madame Tussauds in Nashville, per a press release. The wax figure wears the white lace jumpsuit, jewelry (hoop earrings and rings) and heels she wore for her performance at the 2019 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. A team of 20 London-based artists worked closely with Musgraves and her glam team for six months to capture her exact measurements, hair color, eye color, skin tone and more.

Cher's daughter-in-law, Marieangela King, accused the singer of arranging a kidnapping plot for King's estranged husband, Elijah Blue Allman, per USA Today. In a December 2022 declaration filed in the couple's divorce, King alleged the singer/actress arranged for Allman to be removed from their New York hotel room on the night of their wedding anniversary in November of that year. King added that in the months leading up to the alleged kidnapping, she was told not to have contact with Allman (who had previously discussed his battle with substance abuse) while he was in "lockdown at a treatment facility." King and Allman, the son of Cher and musician Gregg Allman, married in December 2013.

RuPaul's Drag Race season-three winner and All Stars 7 legend Raja accused a server from Four Peaks Brewing Company's restaurant at the Phoenix International Airport of "accosting" and "humiliating" her after being accused of stealing a wine glass, Out noted. A few hours later, a rep for Four Peaks apparently contacted Raja to apologize for the incident, according to a post: "Decided to delete my rant pot about the Phoenix airport restaurant. They've apologized and are now aware that perhaps they should check their employees. Have a nice day everyone [heart emoji]."

Anti-trans actor Kevin Sorbo—best-known for portraying Hercules on the '90s TV show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys—is denying allegations that his new children's book is anti-LGBTQ+, according to LGBTQ Nation. After blogger Joe Jervis, who runs the site JoeMyGod, described Sorbo's book The Test of Lionhood as anti-LGBTQ+, Sorbo went on X (formerly Twitter) to claim the accusation was "another example of the left doing whatever it takes to score clicks while bashing Christian conservatives." However, Sorbo has made it extremely clear that one of the major messages of his book is to "let boys be boys and let girls be girls."

Las Vegas police arrested a man in connection with the 1996 killing of iconic rapper Tupac Shakur, according to Deadline, citing the AP. Citing two officials with firsthand knowledge of the case, the AP said Duane "Keefe D" Davis, who long has been tied to the Shakur shooting, was taken into custody. The arrest came two months after Vegas police served a search warrant in nearby Henderson, Nevada, looking for items in connection with the killing.

Former What Not to Wear co-hosts Stacy London and Clinton Kelly rekindled their friendship after a decade-long estrangement, Page Six noted. On Today with Hoda & Jenna, they discussed their emotional reconciliation. "I sobbed my eyes out," London said. "I told Clinton everything that made me sad, everything that hurt me, every way I thought I hurt him. All the petty grudges. All the stupid crap." Kelly added that he was the one to reach out to London toward the end of the pandemic, hoping to make amends. The duo—who hosted the TLC show from 2003 to 2013—had been feuding since Kelly blasted London in his 2017 book, I Hate Everyone, Except You.

The cause of death for Dancing with the Stars/Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman, 78, has been revealed, per Deadline, citing The Daily Express. Goodman's death certificate says that he died after the prostate cancer spread to his bones. The television personality had retired from the ABC reality competition after season 31 (in 2022), saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Classic rockers Aerosmith postponed all of its 2023 tour dates until next year due to singer Steven Tyler's ongoing vocal-cord and larynx problems, Deadline reported. The band had previously postponed its September tour dates, but Tyler's injuries are "more serious than initially thought," including a fractured larynx.

Real-estate mogul and current Dancing with the Stars contestant Mauricio Umansky clarified that he and estranged wife Kyle Richards are, in fact, separated, per Page Six. He told TMZ, "We are currently separated, we are not talking about divorce and we're trying to deal with this stuff internally with ourselves privately." Also, on the "Red Mic" podcast, Umansky said that Richards did not cheat on him with her country-singer pal, Morgan Wade, who filmed a queer music video with Richards for the song "Fall in Love with Me."

Actress Julia Ormond (Legends of the Fall) is suing Disney, CAA and Miramax over an alleged sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein in 1995, Deadline noted. While the suit does not name her then-agents Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane or former Disney executives Jeffery Katzenberg and Michael Eisner, it references all of them a number of times. Ormand alleges that CAA and Disney, the latter of which owned Weinstein's Miramax, knew of the Oscar-winning producer's behavior and did nothing to protect her. However, CAA said the accusations are "completely without merit" and alleged that it rejected a $15-million demand by the actress' attorney to keep the lawsuit from going public, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Sharon Osbourne admitted that she goes "at least three days without eating" each week following her 30-pound weight loss journey, Page Six noted. She has been open about her desperate bid to shed the pounds as she turned to the controversial drug Ozempic to achieve a slimmer frame—although Osbourne said she's been left without an appetite. Speaking on their family's "The Osbournes" podcast, shared with the Daily Mail, Sharon and son Jack said the world would "descend into chaos" if people were forced to go without nine meals in a row.